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Ignoring racism makes distress
worse, study finds

April
5, 2010 -- Subtle
forms of racism are part of the fabric of life, according to Professor
of Counseling Alvin Alvarez, but the way people choose to cope with racist
incidents can influence how much distress they feel.

A 1930s photograph of a hotel entrance with a sign reading
“Positively no Filipinos allowed.” This blatant racism stands in contrast
to the subtle 'everyday racism' that Professor Alvin Alvarez has found still
exists today.

Alvarez' latest study, published in the Journal of
Counseling Psychology,
found that denying or ignoring racial discrimination leads to greater psychological
distress, including anxiety and depression, and lowers self-esteem.

"We
found that some coping methods are healthier than others for dealing with
everyday racism," Alvarez said. "When people deny or trivialize
racist encounters, they can actually make themselves feel worse, amplifying
the distress caused by the incident."

The study focused on what is referred
to as 'everyday racism' -- subtle, commonplace forms of discrimination, such
as being ignored, ridiculed or treated differently.

"These are incidents
that may seem innocent and small, but cumulatively they can have a powerful
impact on an individual's mental health," Alvarez said. "Trying
to ignore these insidious incidents could become taxing and debilitating
over time, chipping away at a person's spirit."

Alvarez surveyed 199
Filipino-American adults, both men and women, in the Bay Area and found that
99 percent of participants had experienced at least one incident of everyday
racism in the last year.

Professor Alvin Alvarez

The findings challenge the stereotype of Filipino-Americans
as 'model minorities' -- ethnic groups that are typically successful in society
and believed to no longer experience discrimination. "What's striking
is we found that racism is still happening to Filipinos," Alvarez said. "Therapists
need to look beyond the frequent portrayal of Asian Americans as model minorities
and help clients assess what their best coping strategy could be, depending
on their resources, what's feasible and who they could turn to for support."

While
further research is needed to determine what makes a healthy coping method,
the study did find that for men, dealing with racism in an active way, such
as reporting incidents to authorities or challenging the perpetrator, was
associated with decreased distress and increased self-esteem. For women,
ignoring racism was linked to increased distress, but no significant correlation
was found between other coping methods and psychological distress.

The study
was published in the April 2010 issue of the Journal
of Counseling Psychology and was co-authored by Linda Juang, associate professor of psychology at
SF State.